This invention relates generally to a drain gutter and water supply assembly of the type which is adapted to be positioned along the periphery of a swimming pool, with an inner gutter wall over which contaminated water is allowed to spill continuously into the gutter from the surface of the pool, and with a filtered water supply manifold contained in the gutter. In installations of this type, inlet fitting assemblies are employed to direct filtered water from the supply manifold through the inner gutter wall into the pool at selected locations beneath the pool surface. In this way, the contaminated water continuously being received in the gutter is continuously replaced by filtered water, and the surface level of the pool is maintained relatively constant. Both the gutter and the supply manifold are connected in a known manner to pump and filtering means to provide a closed circulating system, with additional means provided to add make-up water when needed.
A primary object of the present invention is the provision of a novel and improved inlet fitting assembly which is adjustable to enable the incoming flow of filtered water to be directed in a manner which insures proper distribution and an efficient circulating flow pattern for each pool installation. Although devices for this purpose are currently available, an example of which is the device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,578,023, such devices are unsatisfactory because they are inconvenient to manipulate, difficult to disassemble when removal of the main supply conduit is necessitated, and also because they are characterized by a high head loss due to the internal directional changes in flow which the water experiences as it passes through such devices.
It is, accordingly, a further object of the present invention to obviate the aforementioned problems by providing an inlet fitting assembly which is not only adjustable, but also which is capable of being quickly and easily assembled and disassembled, and also characterized by a low head loss.
Still another object of the present invention is the provision of an inlet fitting assembly which embodies a minimum number of components capable of being easily assembled and adjusted to obtain a desired flow direction for the incoming filtered water.